★ 。＼｜／。★

𝗕𝗘𝗟𝗟𝗘

𝖈𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖎𝖙𝖗𝖊 𝖉𝖎𝖝-𝖘𝖊𝖕𝖙:
KELLI THE EMPOUSA
RETURNS

★ 。／｜＼。★

WHEN THEY REACHED the ledge, Belle started to believe that her plan wasn't a very good idea. She was sure that they had just signed the warrants for their deaths, because the way to get down plus what was at the bottom was scarier than anything Belle had ever seen — including the Labyrinth.

The cliff dropped down more than eighty feet, and waiting at the bottom was a river of fire cutting a path through a jagged crevasse made of obsidian. Horrible shadows were casted on the faces of the cliffs from the illumination of the fire. Even from so high up, the heat from the river was intense. Belle was still chilled down to her bones from the River Cocytus, but now her face felt raw and red with sunburn. Each breath she took required more effort. The cuts she got on her hands and arms were bleeding more rather than less. Even if her and Percy could make it down to the River of Fire — which she doubted they could — her plan seemed incredibly insane.

"Uh . . ." Percy trailed off. He examined the cliff before pointing to a tiny fissure running diagonally from the edge all the way to the bottom. "How about we try that ledge there? We might be able to climb down."

At least he didn't say that they would be crazy to try. Instead, he managed to sound hopeful about it. Belle was grateful for his optimism even though she was worried she was leading him to his doom. Not that it mattered, anyways. If they stayed in Tartarus any longer they were going to die. Blisters had started to form on their arms from being exposed to the toxic air. The whole entire environment wasn't healthy in any way shape or form and was only trying to kill them faster.

Belle was forced to let go of Percy's hand — even though she didn't want to — as they started to go down the cliff with Percy in the lead. The ledge was barely wide enough for a toehold. Their hands clawed for any crack in the glassy rock to better stabilize themselves. Belle had attempted to wrap her bloody palms with the sleeves of her t-shirt, but her fingers were still slippery with blood and were weak.

Just a few steps below her, Percy grunted as he tried to reach for another handhold. "So, this fire river . . . what's it called?"

"The Phlegethon," Belle answered. "Now quiet. Concentrate on going down."

"The Phlegethon?" Percy repeated. He shinnied a little further along the ledge. They had made it roughly a third of the way down, but that was still high enough for them to die if they fell. "Honestly, that sounds like a marathon for hawking spitballs."

"Percy, you know I love your jokes, but please don't make me laugh right now."

"Hey, I'm just trying to keep things light."

"And I love you very much for that." Belle yelped, nearly missing the ledge she was about to step on. "But right now, I'd rather not plummet to my death with a smile on my face."

Just like she had asked, Percy stayed silent. They kept going, taking one step at a time. The only thing they were focused on was getting to the bottom. Belle's eyes stung with sweat and her arms trembled more than they ever had before. Nevertheless, much to her amazement, they finally made it to the bottom of the cliff. Belle's feet touched the ground and she immediately stumbled forwards.

Percy caught her by wrapping his arms around her waist. "Woah, Beauty, you all right?"

Belle tried to blink the blurriness out of her vision. She was alarmed to feel how feverish Percy's skin felt and how multiple red boils had erupted on his face. Her own throat felt blistered and her stomach was clenched tightly. She knew they had to hurry.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Belle responded, even though she really wasn't. "We just have to get to the river. Come on."

The two staggered over slick glass ledges, went around massive boulders, and avoided stalagmites that would've impaled them if their foot slipped even an inch. Their tattered clothes steamed from the intense heat of the river, but they didn't stop until they collapsed on their knees at the banks of the Phlegethon.

"If the legends I read were true, we have to drink," Belle announced.

Percy swayed with his eyes half-closed, and it took him three counts to respond. "Uh . . . you mean drink fire?"

"The Phlegethon flows from Hades' realm all the way down into Tartarus," Belle explained. She could barely talk. The heat and the acidic air was making her throat close up. "It's used to punish the wicked, but some legends call it the River of Healing."

"Some legends?"

Belle swallowed and forced to stay conscious even though she so desperately wanted to pass out. "The Phlegethon keeps the wicked in one piece so that once they get to the Fields of Punishment, they can endure the torture. If I'm right, this river might be the Underworld equivalent of ambrosia and nectar."

Percy winced as cinders sprayed out from the river and curled around his face. "But Belle, it's fire. How are we supposed to to drink from it?"

"We just have to go for it." She took a deep, rattling breath, which took a lot of strength out of her. "Here goes nothing."

She thrust her hands into the river. The fire wasn't painful on first contact. Instead, it felt cold, which probably meant it was so hot it was overloading Belle's nerves to the point where they didn't know what to feel. Before she could change her mind, she cupped some of the fiery liquid in her palms and raised it to her mouth.

Belle was never good with spicy things. Once, Travis and Connor had played a prank on her by putting ghost pepper hot sauce on top of her food. She remembered how much her throat and mouth burned. The Stolls claimed she was being overdramatic, but Belle literally thought that her respiratory system was going to implode. Drinking from the Phlegethon was like that, but one hundred times worse. Her sinuses filled with literal liquid flame, her mouth was extremely hot, her eyes began to shed boiling tears, and every single pore on her face popped. Belle collapsed against the ground, her body obviously not knowing what to do. She began to gag and retch while her whole body shook violently.

"Beauty!" Percy exclaimed.

He grabbed her arms and stopped her from rolling into the river. Belle coughed again, but soon enough, the convulsions she had endured passed. She took an extremely ragged breath and managed to sit back up. Although she felt horribly weak and nauseous, her next breath came more easily. The blisters on her arms began to fade.

"It worked," Belle voiced. "Percy, you have to drink."

"I—"

Whatever he was going to say was cut off by his eyes rolling up in his head. Percy slumped against her and didn't move. Belle's eyes widened and she cupped more fire in her palm. She ignored the pain and dripped the liquid into his mouth. He didn't respond.

"Come on," Belle whispered. She didn't know if she could do this by herself. "Percy, come on."

Belle tried again, but this time, she poured an entire handful down his throat. This time he responded by spluttering and coughing. Belle let out a breath of relief and held him in her arms as he trembled from the magical fire coursing through his system. His fever disappeared and his boils faded. Percy sat up and smacked his lips, opting to hold onto Belle's hands instead.

"That was spicy, yet disgusting," Percy commented. "Ugh."

Belle managed a weak laugh. "Yeah, you pretty much summed it up."

"You saved us, Belle."

She sighed. "Only for now. We have a much bigger problem, which is we're still in Tartarus."

Percy blinked and looked around like he was just realizing they were actually here. "Holy Hera. I never thought . . . well, I guess I was never really sure what I thought. I always imagined Tartarus was, like, an empty space, you know? Like it was a pit with no bottom. But it's actually real."

"We haven't even seen all of it," Belle added. "When we were falling, there was a huge series of plateaus leading downwards. The part we're in now is just only a speck of the abyss. It's like the front steps to a mansion."

"Or the welcome mat."

Belle offered him a small smile. "I guess so."

The two of them gazed up at the red clouds that swirled in the gray haze. Neither of them had the strength to climb back up that cliff even if they wanted to. There were only two choices now — downriver or upriver.

"Well, we have to find a way out, don't we?" Percy asked. "The Doors of Death."

Belle felt a chill go down her spine. She remembered what Percy had said just before they fell into Tartarus. He had made Nico di Angelo and Annabeth promise to lead the Argo II to Epirus, which was the mortal side of the Doors of Death.

The other side, Nico and Annabeth! Percy had said. We'll see you there. Understand?

His idea seemed even crazier than Belle's plan about drinking fire. If Belle and Percy could barely stumble a hundred yards in this poisonous place without dying, how could they possibly wander through Tartarus and find the Doors of Death?

"We have to," Percy continued. "And not just for us, for everyone we love. Monsters will just keep coming through if the Doors aren't closed on both sides. Gaea's forces will overrun the world."

Belle knew he was right. However, she had no idea how they were supposed to succeed when they knew literally nothing. They didn't know where the Doors were and had no way of locating them. How long it would take was also an issue, and they didn't know if time flowed the same in Tartarus. There was no way to synchronize a meeting with their friends above, and Nico had mentioned that a legion of Gaea's strongest monsters were guarding the Doors on the Tartarus side. Belle and Percy couldn't exactly launch a frontal assault with just the two of them. That would be suicide.

She decided that she wouldn't share any of the thoughts that were swirling through her brain. Belle was usually optimistic, but when the odds were this bad, she knew she had to face reality. And especially after swimming in the River Cocytus, Belle had enough whining to last a lifetime.

"Well, if we stay close to the river, we'll have a way to heal ourselves," Belle stated. "I say we go downstream—"

Everything happened so fast. Belle noticed Percy's eyes lock on something behind her. He seemed panicked. She could tell by the way his hand instinctively went to the pocket of his jeans where Riptide's pen was. Belle quickly scrambled to get Sunflower's keychain off of her belt loops, and once she did, she flipped it in the air. Once she grasped the familiar green hilt in her hand, she got to her feet, shut her eyes tight, and spun around. She moved Sunflower in an arc motion and blindly stabbed at whatever was coming towards them. A horrible wail echoed throughout the canyon and Belle could feel dust rain all around her. She kept her eyes squeezed shut, extremely afraid to open them.

"Beauty . . ." Percy trailed off.

Her eyes fluttered open. Golden dust was settling on obsidian rocks.

She kept Sunflower raised. "W-What was that?"

"Arachne," Percy answered softly.

Belle swallowed her fear and lowered Sunflower. The Celestial Bronze blade made a hissing noise through the thick hot air of Tartarus, and it glowed even brighter in the gloom. She flipped her sword and slowly clipped her keychain back on her belt loops.

"Are you okay?" he questioned, scanning the cliffs and boulders for more monsters before his eyes settled down on her worryingly.

"Uh, I—" Belle began, her eyebrows knit in thought as she felt her emotions go all over the place. "I don't know."

Percy kicked the dust on the rocks, his facial expression grim and dissatisfied. "I think she died too easily. Considering how much torture she put Annabeth through and almost killed you, she deserved worse."

Belle blinked in shock. The hard edge in his voice made her . . . unsettled. She had seen Percy get angry in the Battle of Manhattan, especially when Ethan Nakamura had stabbed her in the shoulder with a poisoned knife. But something about now was different. It almost made her glad she had killed Arachne so quickly.

"Sure," Belle finally agreed.

"From now on, we have to watch each other's backs more carefully, okay?" Percy said. "Now, you were saying . . . downstream?"

Belle was still in a shocked daze from killing Arachne blindly. The golden dust was now dissipating on the rocky shore and turning into steam. At least they knew that monsters could be killed in Tartarus, unlike what Percy had suggested before. However, they also had no idea how long monsters could remain dead. Belle didn't really want to stay and find out.

She nodded. "Downstream. If the Phlegethon flows from the upper levels of the Underworld, it most likely flows deeper in Tartarus."

"Which means it leads into more dangerous territory, which is probably where the Doors are," Percy guessed. He held out his hand to Belle, and she took it, glad for the comfort. "Just our luck. We'd better start."

The two only travelled a few hundred yards before Belle started to hear voices. She thought it was just inside her head, since she was walking along the Phlegethon with her stomach growling and throat baking. Belle was almost sure if she spent any more time in this place it would drive her insane. Drinking from the River of Fire had healed her, but it did nothing for her exhaustion. However, once the voices started to get louder and argue with each other, Belle knew it was from somebody else. She raised her head in instant alert.

She tugged in Percy's hand and pulled him behind the nearest boulder. "Percy, down!"

They crouched down behind the boulder, wedged so close to the riverbank that their shoes almost touched the fire inside the river. On the other side of the Boulder along the narrow party between the river and cliffs, voiced snarled and got louder as they approached them from upstream.

Belle gripped Percy's hand tighter and tried to slow her breathing down. The voices sounded vaguely human, but that meant nothing down there. Everything in Tartarus was their enemy. Belle also didn't know how the monsters didn't spot them already. They could smell Demigods, especially powerful ones like Percy who was a son of Poseidon. Hiding behind a boulder wouldn't do any good when the monsters caught their scent. Still, as the monsters got nearer, their voices didn't change in tone. Their repeated uneven footsteps of scrap, clump didn't get any faster.

"Soon?" one asked in a raspy voice like she had been gargling the fire of the Phlegethon.

"Oh my Gods!" another voice exclaimed. This one sounded a lot younger and much more human like a teenage girl was getting frustrated with her friends at the mall. However, something about her voice seemed . . . familiar. "You guys are totally annoying! I told you, it's like three days from here."

Percy squeezed Belle's hand again, making her look up at him. His face seemed alarmed like he also recognized the girl's voice.

A chorus of growling and grumbling sounded from the other side of the boulder. The creatures gave no indication that they'd caught the scent of Belle and Percy. Belle began to wonder if Demigods smelled the same as they did in the mortal world or if the other scents were so powerful that they were masking it.

"I wonder if perhaps you do not know the way, young one," a third voice said, as gravelly and ancient as the first one was.

"Oh, shut your fang hole, Serephone," the mall girl shot back. "When's the last time you escaped to the mortal world? I was there a couple of years ago. I know the way! Besides, I understand what we're facing up there. You don't have a clue!"

"The Earth Mother did not make you boss!" a fourth voice shrieked.

There was some hissing, scuffling, and feral moans for a moment.

"Enough!" the one called Serephone yelled, making the scuffling die down. "We will follow for now, but if you do not lead us well, if we find you have lied about the summons of Gaea—"

"I don't lie!" the mall girl snapped. "Believe me, I've got good reason to get into this battle. I have some enemies to devour, and you'll feast on the blood of heroes. Just leave one special morsel for me — the one named Percy Jackson."

Belle clenched Sunflower's keychain in her hand nervously. It was no secret that Percy had enemies down here, but this girl . . . Belle felt uneasy. The scars on her stomach suddenly seemed to burn.

"Believe me," the mall girl continued. "Gaea has called us, and we're going to have so much fun. Before this war is over, mortals and Demigods will tremble at the sound of my name — Kelli!"

Belle's eyes widened and her head shot over to look at Percy. His face seemed waxy in the light of the Phlegethon.

It's her, she mouthed to him. And other Empousai.

Kelli the Empousa wasn't exactly the nicest monster they had dealt with. Two years ago, apparently Percy and their friend Rachel Elizabeth Dare were attacked by Empousai disguised as cheerleaders at their school, one of them being Kelli. Later, Kelli had attacked them in Daedalus' workshop in the Labyrinth. She had scratched Belle's stomach and gave her scars before Belle stabbed her in the back and sent her . . . here. To Tartarus.

The Empousai shuffled off and their voices began to get fainter. Belle carefully crept to the edge of the boulder and peeked around the corner to get a look. Sure enough, five women were staggering on mismatched legs of mechanical bronze on the left and shaggy, cloven-hooves on the right. Their hair was made of fire and their skin was as white as snow. Most of them were wearing tattered Ancient Greek dresses, except for Kelli in the lead, who wore a burnt and torn cheerleader's outfit.

Belle inwardly sighed. Empousai were very tricky to deal with. They had nasty claws and fangs and had the ability to manipulate the Mist. Just to add onto that, they could change shape and charmspeak, like a combination of Frank Zhang and Piper McLean's powers. They often tricked mortals into letting down their guard. Men were especially susceptible to that. The Empousa's favorite tactic was to make a guy fall in love with her and then drink his blood and devour his flesh.

But Kelli was a little bit worse. She had almost killed Percy. Her claws had left scars on Belle's stomach forever and the scratches had almost led to Belle falling out of the sky with a pair of mechanical wings on. Not to mention she had manipulated Luke Castellan to commit even darker deeds in the name of Kronos.

Percy stood up. "They're heading to the Doors of Death. You know what that means?"

Belle nodded, knowing that this was probably the only way they could get to the Doors. "Yeah. I don't really want to, but . . . come on. We have to follow them."

— [ ♡ ] —

I'm embarrassed to have the same name as kelli even though hers ends with an i and not a y but that bitch annoys the fuck outta me

ok anyways moving onto a more fluffy note I still get butterflies every time percy calls belle beauty and it's been three books

gifs by 1-800-SIMPINGFORSEB !